


Under the Fairground Lights.

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, F/M, Fluff, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 21:31:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11837445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: Her mother has planed a dream wedding, but it’s become a nightmare for the bride.





	Under the Fairground Lights.

“Damn it! Buggeration! Oh Fuck!

Belle hopped around the lobby of the Grand Hotel as she tried to simultaneously kick a crystal sparkle high heel from one foot while she pulled a sneaker onto the other. The puffy sleeved, pencil skirted pink monstrosity she was wearing wasn’t helping either her actions or her mood. Wearing a matching dress Ruby tottered across the lobby carrying Belle’s oversized purse, the bright pink highlights she’d replaced her usual red streaks with made her panic-stricken face look even more washed out that it would have done under normal circumstances.

“I’m so sorry Belle. I only went to the loo. You know how hard it is to pee in these bloody dresses. I came back and she was gone.”  
Belle finally succeeded in changing her footwear and was bitterly pleased to see that the sparkles from one of her shoes were now scattered all over the lobby floor. She grabbed her purse from Ruby and dug around for a moment to find her cell.

“Right, tell everyone to stay calm, for the love of all that is holy keep Milah and Killian away from Rum,” – Belle found her cell and stuffed it into her bra, - “I’ll go and find our runaway bride. Where’s your cell?”

Ruby flexed her shoulders and leaned forward so Belle could see her cell phone shoved in between her breasts. They rolled their eyes at each other, a look that screamed for the lack of pockets in these bloody dresses. Belle hefted her bag onto her shoulder and caught the car keys that Ruby tossed at her.

“See you soon, hopefully with a bride in tow.”

Ruby chuckled; “I should have kept those handcuffs from the hen night.”

Belle managed a laugh as she ran towards the door in search of the overwhelmed bride. If her gut feeling was right there was a chance that there would still be a wedding today. Maybe.

 

Henry ran across the lobby towards Ruby and grabbed onto her arm as he gasped in a breath. 

“Ruby, Ruby! Grandfather and Grandma are shouting at each other!”

Ruby hitched up her pencil skirt and started towards the ballroom only to skitter to a halt after a few strides when she realised that Henry wasn’t following her.

“Hey kid, where are you going?”

Henry turned on his heal and shrugged; “I’m going to the kids room. Jefferson is doing magic tricks.”

“Henry! Why aren’t you more stressed about all of this?”

He shrugged and gave her a grin; “My folks love me, and they love each other. I tried to get them to go to Vegas. All of this is grown-up stuff.”

Ruby sagged as Henry grinned and tugged at his tie; “I know, I’m pretty well adjusted for a ten year old in a bow tie,” – he gave her a double thumbs up, - “Good luck.”

Ruby rolled her eyes and ran towards the sound of Gaelic swearing and an irate teacher voice inside the ballroom, all the while wondering if she’d be better off in the kid’s room watching Jefferson pulling a rabbit from his top hat.

 

It was Emma’s bright yellow Bug that Belle spotted first. How the hell she had managed to drive that tiny car in the meringue of a dress her mother had chosen for her would go down as one of the mysteries of today. Belle swung Ruby’s car into the parking lot and just remembered to pull the keys from the ignition before she threw herself out of the door and ran towards the deserted fairground. It wasn’t hard to work out which ride she needed to run towards, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she found a confection clad run-away bride sat on the steps of the chair swings.

 

Ruby was having less success. On the positive side Milah and Killian had parked themselves at the bar and seemed content to watch the drama unfold with the rest of the wedding guests, which took one potential powder keg out of the volatile situation. Neal had ducked away to the kid’s room on the pretext of looking after Henry, in Ruby’s opinion it would be Henry looking after his Dad, Neal looked on the verge of tears. Unfortunately that left Gold in the room with Emma’s parents and in between the snide comments, accusations and colourful language Ruby was learning that it was not wise to insult a Scotsman’s kilt.

 

Belle had sat down next to Emma and handed her a tissue. For a long while they didn’t say anything, and then Emma gave a watery laugh.

“I must look like a fright.”

Belle tilted her head to one side and took a good look at the ruins of Emma’s heavy make-up. Mascara and eye liner were streaked down her face and her lipstick was smudged, in truth she could have been the demon bride from any number of horror films, but that probably was not the best thing to say to her at the moment.

“Not too bad, I think I looked worse during my Goth phase.”

That made Emma chuckle, the brief sound of merriment faded quickly and she curled in on herself.

“Is Neal alright?”

“From the looks of him he wanted to run too.”

“This all just go too much. Mom was so excited to be able to do something really mom like for me that I just let her take over.”

Belle could understand how Emma had gotten into this situation. She was an adult when she found parents, and Mary Margaret clearly had a lot of bottled up mothering to release. Her daughter’s wedding had to be perfect, a dream come true, that it wasn’t Emma and Neal’s dream wedding apparently hadn’t occurred to Mary Margaret.

“Neal and I wanted to get married here.”

Belle smiled and nodded, she knew about their first date, which was why she’d made a beeline for the fairground in the first place.

“It was going to be casual and fun,” - Emma tugged at one of the many flounces on her dress in frustration, - “And I’d be comfortable.”

“Yeah, comfortable would be nice right about now.”

“Oh Belle, I’m sorry. I should have held my ground like Gold did.”

Rum had refused point blank to wear the ivory suit Mary Margaret wanted all the men to be dressed in, his son was getting married and he would wear his tartan. The red, purple and black plaid clashed horribly with the bright pinks and ivory of the wedding colours, which had irked Mary Margaret no end. Belle suddenly smothered a laugh.

“Can you imagine having the wedding here and Rum in his kilt on the chair swings.”

Emma’s eyes widened and then she snorted; “Oh my God! That would be hilarious,” – her nose scrunched, - “And highly disturbing if he’s traditional about what he wears underneath.”

Belle gave her a grin and a suggestive wink that made Emma raise her hands.

“Oh no, don’t tell me. I don’t want that mental image!”

Their laughter faded and Belle felt it was time.

“So, what do you want to do?”

That Emma wanted to get married wasn’t in question, the only thing to decide was if they would go back to the Grand Hotel, or if Belle and Rum’s Plan B would come into play.

 

Rum leaned against the rail of the terrace and stared at the unlit cigarette between his fingers. He’d quit over a year ago, but the stress of this bloody wedding had pushed him to bum a smoke from one of the waiters. He clicked the lighter he’d never got out of the habit of carrying and considered his current options. He could spark up and hope the head rush of his first cigarette in twelve months would calm his anger, or he could go back inside and shout at Emma’s parents some more. Belle would be disappointed if he smoked, but she probably wouldn’t be thrilled if he really lost his temper with Mary Margaret. The bloody woman had been a nightmare mother-of-the-bridezilla since Neal and Emma announced their engagement. He’d held his tongue at her under handed comments that it was a shame that this was all in the wrong order. So what if Neal and Emma had a child before they wed? Mary Margaret was oblivious to the fact her words made it sound like she wish Henry didn’t exist, she was only upset because in her mind it meant her daughter couldn’t wear white for her big day. Thankfully Henry had his head screwed on right and hadn’t let his Grandma’s thoughtlessness get to him, that hadn’t stopped her comments getting under Gold’s skin. 

Gold hunched his shoulders and slipped the cigarette between his lips, feeling every bit like a naughty teenager. He’d almost got the flame to the end when Belle’s ringtone blared into life, sounding like an accusation to his guilty almost having smoked mind. He spat the cigarette over the rail and fumbled his cell phone from his sporran.

“Belle! What’s happening? Are you alright? Is Emma alright?”

“Take a breath, sweetheart. We’re putting Plan B into motion.”

Rum’s shoulders sagged with a relief that was better than any nicotine rush.

“Thank feck for that. Okay, I’ll get everyone over there. Give my daughter-in-law a hug from me, and tell her we’ve got this. See you soon, sweetheart.”

“Love you, see you soon.”

 

Ruby never thought that she would be pleased and relieved to see Gold stride into a room with a smirk on his face, but she thanked any gods that were listened that he did. She’d had to stop Mary Margaret from calling the sheriff to report Emma as a missing person. David’s explanation that she’d been gone for less than an hour was holding no sway over the frantic mother of the bride. Gold strolled across to the stage where Emma and Neal were to exchange their vows and had a fast, whispered conversation with Archie who was to officiate. Ruby watched as Archie’s face lit up with a wide smile and he waved Gold towards the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.”

Like a true showman Gold waited until everyone had fallen quiet and was focused on him, but it wasn’t until Neal and Henry entered the ballroom that he continued. The anticipation was buzzing in the air.

“Ladies and gentleman, we are moving this wedding to the venue of choice of the happy couple, the fairground!”

A cheer went up from the guests as Gold directed them to the waiting bus outside that would transport them to the bride. Mary Margaret looked mutinous until Neal had a few words with her. Ruby would never know what he said to her, but the steely look of determination on his face and Mary Margaret’s subsequent nod convinced Ruby that he was standing up to his mother-in-law to be.

The wedding was perfect, if a little unconventional. Emma and Neal exchanged their vows on the steps of the chair swings, and in place of a first dance they took a turn on the ride that had featured in their first date. There had been a bit of emergency dress alteration so Emma could actually get on the ride, but Belle and Ruby had been very enthusiastic about cutting out the layers and layers of netting, while Mary Margaret trimmed the loose threads with a pair of nail scissors. The destruction of the loathed wedding dress was a strange bonding moment for mother and daughter that had seen a few tears and yet another hasty reapplication of make-up.

Ruby had shrieked with delight when Gold handed her and Belle garment bags containing simple summer dresses free of all flounces and thankfully not pink.

Gold had flatly refused to go on the chair swings, which saved everyone’s blushes since as Belle could attest he did wear his kilt in the traditional fashion. Henry did manage to talk him on to the bumper cars and that led to Neal and Emma swearing their son was never going to be allowed behind the wheel of their car.

The throwing of the bride’s bouquet was replaced with a teddy bear from the hook-a-duck game since Emma had left her flowers in the hotel. Neal had still had the garter to throw which he pinged at his father with a knowing wink and the comment of, “Make an honest woman of my step-mom, Pops!”

Rum wrapped an arm around Belle’s waist, “What do you say sweetheart shall we tie the knot?”

There was a wicked twinkle in his eyes that made Belle chuckle, she pulled him in close and whispered in his ear, “Shall we tell them we’ve got the plane tickets to Vegas booked?”

Rum nuzzled at her neck, “No we’ll surprise them after the fact. I think there’s been enough wedding stress for one day.”


End file.
